The upper link arm is an H-pattern
setup. The whole system moves 17
inches. This setup takes the worry out
of vulnerable radius rods or finicky
rear tie-rods. It may give up an inch
of travel to some of the competition,
but the reward of strength should be
worth it to most.

It was out back where we found
any harshness during our test. Only
big dune transitions or G-outs would
bother the test driver at the stock settings. With the full soft setup we chose
in the back, the G-outs were much
smoother. When we get the YXZ side
by side with its competition, suspension action will be compared closely.
Over the consistent whoops the YXZ
skipped right over them. There was
a slight kick on some of the bigger,
spread-apart ones, but the smaller
ones created and ridden by quads
and UTVs were no problem to skim
across. In fact, during our shock tuning session, we were up-shifting from
third to fourth, then to fifth, going wide
open over the 2-foot rollers.

CONCLUSIONS

Since around 2008 we have been
waiting for Yamaha to jump back into
the sport UTV game with a competitive machine. They kept us waiting
and somewhat disappointed all that
time. That all changed when we finally got to get behind the wheel of the
most thrilling-to-drive SxS on the market. It might not be the fastest thing out
there, but it does give you more grins
for your money. And if what Yamaha
says is true about its durability, they
won’t have any trouble keeping customers happy. ❏

placed and very easy to push. What
catches some people off-guard is that
your left leg can get tired moving from
the dead pedal over to the clutch. The
machine is so fun to shift and feel rev
that you want to shift. If you have the
timing right, you can shift without
using the clutch, but Yamaha does
not recommend it. The Rekluse auto-clutch option will allow you to forget
using the clutch when starting and
coming to a stop, but it is still needed
just like normal when going from
gear to gear at speed.

SUSPENSION

The YXZ’s suspension is part formand part function. Dual A-arms upfront are typical of every other SXS onthe market. They work well clearingobstacles and going over big bumps.

Steering is precise and the wheel is
sturdy. We softened the shocks up
from the factory settings and settled
on just a two turns of both hi and low
speed compression. Rebound was
about neutral.

Out back, the YXZ is different
than any other UTV out there. To get
the most travel without sacrificing
strength, Yamaha came up with a
hybrid setup, which is part trailing
arm and part A-arm below the hub.

We played with the suspension a lot on the YXZ. It is set up stiff to handle aggressive driving. With the clickers at full soft, we found it was much more comfortable
to drive and was still very capable in the whoops and over jumps.